On Short Trip, McCain Shuns Jet For Amtrak

GOP Nominee-In-Waiting Takes Public Train From Washington To Philadelphia

(AP)  John McCain traveled like a man of the people Friday morning, riding an Amtrak train to Philadelphia after a late night of voting in Washington.

"Nice to see you, nice to see you," McCain said to workers and passengers who greeted him on the 8 a.m. high-speed Acela Express train.

McCain, accompanied by a campaign aide, was left alone by the public as he sat in the first-class car for much of the 1 1/2 hour trip.

He drank coffee and read several newspapers - The Washington Post, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today. And he talked on his cell phone with a campaign adviser for several minutes.

The night before, the Arizona senator had flown from Philadelphia to the nation's capital for votes on the federal budget.

As Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting, McCain had a campaign charter plane at his disposal.

But he took a commercial flight so that he could fly into Washington Reagan National Airport, nearer the Capitol, and he returned to Philadelphia by train.

In Washington, McCain tried but failed to attract support for a halt to pork-barrel spending, a moratorium on so-called "earmarks" sought by GOP conservatives to restore the party's credibility with voters.

His effort lost on a 71-29 vote, but McCain attracted support from the two Democratic presidential candidates, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.

McCain told reporters Friday morning the process was a "charade" that deserved more deliberation.

Later in Springfield, Penn., McCain told voters: "We were voting on major issues of profound consequences with no discussion, no debate and 10 minutes to vote.

"Anyone who had the misfortune of watching it will know how hard it is to do the Lord's work in the city of Satan," said McCain, who has served four-terms in the Senate.

[timdgrim]

Pretty soon McI''llneedaCain will be taking a HOVERROUND for all his trips. I wonder if they have a camoflauge version for his trips to Iraq.

[therealpook-2009]

My son is a pilot and takes Amtrak for short hauls - too many flight delays!

[jonesforch]

Al Gore would be proud.

[petefromnz]

Reduced to using Amtrack?

Not like the good old days when friends like S&L swindler Charles Keating paid his fares.

In the interests of fairness & balance, I should point out that McCain did pay back $13,433 for the flights - after the scandal broke.

[excoachken]

Does anybody remember when Attorney General Ashcroft stopped flying on commercial jets just before 9/11. What does John McSenile know that we haven''t heard?

[ubrew12]

Is that the same Amtrak Republicans have been trying to kill for 30 years??

[watcher269-2009]

McCain Shuns Jet For Amtrak - That''s because his campaign is "DERAILED"! Heeheehee!

Also, the train rocks him to sleep at night - although he needs to wear Depends because of the Rocking motion and the Clickity Clack, Clickity Clack of the train wheels.

[iceman_1960]

"Wishes McStain would take the "last train to Clarksville" and never come back."
- Posted by ObombA1 at 05:53 PM : Mar 14, 2008
--------------

Here Here.

Bush and Cheney should both be on the "3:10 to Yuma"

[iceman_1960]

The ball is in your court, McCain.

Denounce Pastor John Hagee (aka "Hagee the Horrible") ASAP.

"Obama denounces pastor"s 9/11 comments

WASHINGTON [AP] - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Friday denounced inflammatory remarks from his pastor, who has railed against the United States and accused its leaders of bringing on the Sept. 11 attacks by spreading terrorism.

"I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country or serves to divide us from our allies," Obama said. "I also believe that words that degrade individuals have no place in our public dialogue, whether it''s on the campaign stump or in the pulpit. In sum, I reject outright the statements by Reverend Wright that are at issue."

[bobnjersey]

[I just came here to see how many liberals were attacking McCain simply because his name appeared in the headline. Bye.]
[Posted by mike71067 at 04:44 PM : Mar 14, 2008]

if that was true you wouldn''t have had to post anything ... since you just wanted to ''see''.

[samthetvcat]

hypnotoad72, so what are you saying with reference to the original story?

[petefromnz]

Contrary to popular belief, it''''s not as simple as a Liberal vs Conservative fight. Anyone who claims to be one or the other based entirely on party affiliation is an idiot. Posted by matvei1107 at 04:53 PM : Mar 14, 2008

Liberal Republicans? Oh yes, let me see, there''s Jacob Javits, Nelson Rockefeller (I suppose), Dwight? No, wait, there''s Arnie!

[hypnotoad72]

carbon offsets . . .

Posted by SamTheTVCat
-------------------------

Oh, "carbon credits"? As in "credit cards"? Gore is also on Apple''s board of directors and yet other companies are doing more green things; even Greenpeace some months ago socked it to Apple over environmental problems!

Mayor Bloomberg has helped with the problem by having hybrids installed in the NYC taxi service. Meanwhile, Apple keeps making new iProducts with iRubbish batteries... hubris; faux elitism. That''s an Apple supporter.

Trouble is, is Candidate McCain being sincere? After all, consumer spending keeps America''s economy afloat...

[mike71067]

I just came here to see how many liberals were attacking McCain simply because his name appeared in the headline. Bye.

[samthetvcat]

---"where as Al Gore doesn''t pratice what he preaches"---
Posted by perception5

Al Gore buys carbon offsets . . .

[perception5]

This is news because our liberal MSM wolfpack press has "sterotyped" the GOP as being anit-environment.

What''s interesting in this story is that McCain is putting is "global warming" interests in pratice...............where as Al Gore doesn''t pratice what he preaches..........really sad and completely true........

[stn_sage]

Train campaigning has been done by many former presidents like Teddy Roosevelt, Wilson, FDR, & Eisenhower among others. It''s probably a nice break in the routine of constant air travel for him.

I think he was being honest when he said "We were voting on major issues of profound consequences with no discussion, no debate and 10 minutes to vote. The public needs to know this! However,---

I think his vote in favor of a moratorium on earmarks to try to make republicans look like they are fiscally responsible---was dishonest of him. Heck, many of his own party members voted in favor of continuing earmarks! That defeats his purpose, doesn''t it?!

[samthetvcat]

omg - another fake-out from the RepubliCON$ . . . I checked the schedule on Amtrak and it''s only 2h10min from downtown Philadelphia to downtown D.C. - there was a prostitute on Larry King explaining how it''s faster to take the train on short trips because the car ride to the airport on each side is usually at least half an hour, and check-in and security etc takes an additional half hour.

So McCain actually saves time and tries to make a big splash with it hoping people didn''t hear that he''s using taxpayer money to do a campaign trip to Iraq under the guise that it''s an ''Congressional'' trip . . . what a ruse!

And speaking of airplanes, why is he letting the freedom fries people build our tankers?

[getrealnow2]

Liston to Obamas pastor. I know the media will say this isnt Obamas view but remeber the big deal they made of Bush visiting Bob Jones Univ. Now they dont even Talk about a church Obama went to for 20 years every Sunday with one of Americas worst racist and anti american Pastors. How many stories did cbs do on Bush visit to Bob Jones Univ. How many stories have the done on the church Obama went to every Sunday. I know Obama says its like an uncle you sometimes dont agree with. If your uncle is a racist and a hate America kind of uncle you dont go to his house unless you like what he is saying.

[scottyusa]

One more good reason to vote for him. You may not like all of his ideas and policies but he has all the traits of a president that we can be proud of. I would vote for him even if he was running indepent.